Thread or the like winding and advancing reel



March 17, 1953 T. s. MAYNER 2,631,354

THREAD OR THE LIKE WINDING AND ADVANCING REEL Filed April 16, 1947 2 SHEETS'SHEET 1 ll HI w i a "W l g N EIIIIL Q 1 i THOMAS 5. MAYNER .INVENTOR ATTORNEY March 17, 1953 T. S. MAYNER 2,631,354

I THREAD OR THE LIKE WINDING AND ADVANCING REEL Filed April 16, 1947 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 '& Hill]! moms MAYNER INYENTOR ATTORNEY Patented Mar. 17, 1953 THREAD OR THE LIKE WINDING AND ADVANCING REEL Thomas S. Mayner, Chagrin Harbor, Willoughby Township, Lake County, Ohio, assignor to Industrial Rayon Corporation, Cleveland, Ohio, a

corporation of Delaware Application April 16, 1947, Serial No. 741,739

7 Claims.

This invention relates to a thread or the like winding and advancing reel. More particularly, the invention relates to a reel that is adapted to either store a considerable length of the thread or the like without advancing it, or to advance the store of thread over its periphery in a plurality of generally helical turns.

The reel of this invention will be described with reference to a cantilever type reel although it can be supported from both ends if so desired. Because of the easy accessiblity of cantilever reels and their adaptability to an open-faced machine they are advantageously used in a continuous process machine for the manufacture of artificial thread or the like. In such a machine the reels are adapted to be positioned in a manner so as to enable a sequential performance of a series of individual processing steps on the thread.

Generally, thread-advancing reels are made of two cage-like reel members. Each of the reel members has a periphery of a plurality of bar members. The two reel members are combined so that their respective bar members are in an interleaved relation, the combination forming a generally circular periphery. The advancement of the thread or the like is eiiected by an emergence and a forward thrust of one set of the two sets of bar members outside the common reel periphery, once during each revolution of the reel. The advancement of the thread is usually effected in single increments, i. e., the thread is caused to move forward a predetermined distance but one during each revolution of the reel.

It has been proposed to increase the rate of thread advancement by oppositely rotating the offset axis of the reel member which causes the thread to advance. While this may produce an increase in the advancement of thread, neverthe less, there still remains the fact that the thread is advanced in substantially single increments during each revolution of the reel. Also, while the thread is substantially continuously advanced in single increments, such an advancement is somewhat abrupt.

The travel of thread is advantageously made more uniform and the abruptness of a twomember reel is considerably lessened by the reel of this invention. The reel advances the thread in at least two increments during each 360 pe-' riod of rotation. The reel comprises at least three reel-members two of which are adapted to advance thread over the reel periphery during each reel revolution. Other things being equal the rate of thread advancement is greater over such a reel inasmuch as the thread is moved in a forward direction on the reel at least twice during each reel revolution. In addition to the aforesaid the advancement of thread or the like over the reel can be stopped when desired by causing the reel to act substantially as a cylinder whereon the thread is only wound but not advanced;

The reel advantageously comprises at least three cage-like members, mounted on axes which are offset and askew to each other. The principle of operation is substantially similar to that described in the Knebusch Patent No. 2,210,914. The reel member axes are positoned relative to each other so as to cause an emergence of one set of bar members at substantially the moment when another set of bar members is beginning to recede. The projection of each such set of bar members is had in a sequential manner so that the thread is advanced in at least two forward movements, one following the other, during each revolution of the reel.

Advantageously, at least two reel member are mounted on eccentrics, i. e. on offset and askew axes, that are subject to an external control, such as a clutch device, the manipulation of which will permit the eccentrics to either rotate or remain stationary. When the eccentrics are kept from rotation the thread is caused to advance over the reel; however, when the eccentrics are rotated at a speed equal to the driving shaft of the reel the thread will merely wind on the reel. 1n a two-member reel where one of the reel members rotates about an eccentric, that I eccentric is then similarly subject to control. It'- can be held from rotation or fixed to the rotating reel shaft.

vSince the reel is a cantilever type reel it end of the reel. Furthermore, the driving gear may be mounted on a one-way clutch to permit relative increased rotation between the drivin means and the reel in a forward direction in the event that there may occur a faster withdrawal of thread off the reel than when it is laid or' Figure 2 is a front elevation of the reel of Fig ure 1;

Figure 3 is a cross section of the I961 9f Figure 1;

is driven from one end only. The mechanism for changing the reel from a non-advancing to an advancing type is desirably located at the driving Figure 4 represents the eccentric reel-member mountings;

Figure 5 represents, in cross section, the mechanism for causing the reel to become, generally, a cylinder; and

Figure f6.represents a unidirectional frictional clutch which binds the reel driving gear to the reel shaft.

Referring to the drawing the reel comprises at least three separate reel members H), and I2. A plurality of bar members |3, l4 and |5 which form the peripheries of each of the reel-members are interleaved to form a single, combined periphery. Each set of bar members of a reel member, however, is adapted to rotate about its own axis. All reel member axes are offset and askew to each other. By being mounted on separate and individual offset and skewed axes a portion of the periphery of each reel member is adapted to emerge outside of the combined reel member peripheries for an instant during each revolution of; the reel to effect an advancement of thread or the like. At least two reel members of the three will advance the thread in consecutiveforward movements over the reel periphery.

.As shown in Figure 3 the bar members lb of the .reel member ii! are supported by a hub H which is concentrically mounted on the shaft l8. The hub I? is secured to the shaft |8 by means of the set screw Hi. The reel member it thus rotates with the shaft l3. The bar members M and. [5 which comprise the peripheries of reel members H and I2, are also similarly supported. The bar members l4 comprising the periphery of the reel. member I? are supported by the hub member 2G, and the bar members i5 of the reel members l3 are supported by the hub 2|. The hub members and 2! are rotatably mounted on the eccentric members 23 and 24 whose axes are. offset and askew to the shaft l8 and to each other.

The eccentrics 23, 24, as shown in Figure 4 are conveniently made a part of the entire reel supporting structure 25. Also, as shown, the shaft |8 isipositioned within the supporting member 25. and extends therethrough so that, desirably,

the reel. member Hi. ismounted on the. protrud-- ing shaft portion. On. the other end of shaft it.

therev ismounted a driving gear .34. The gear, asashown, is held securely to the shaft by a. set screw .35.. Thus, by rotating the gear 34 the reel member ID isv adapted to drive the other two reel members, H and I2 through contact of the bars. Anti-friction bearings are desirably provided for the shaft and the reel members. The shaft l8 rotates in an anti-friction bushing bearing 2i, while the hub members 2|] and 2| rotate on the anti-friction bearings 28, 29 which are mounted on the eccentrics 23 and 24. Lateral displacement of the reel-members is also prevented. Shoulders 3| and 32 are provided on the support 2 5 against which the hub members 2|! and 2| a but. Spring retaining washers 3B, 3? are utilized to maintain the reel members in position.

The aforesaid assembly of elements provides a simple and a unitary reel that is adapted, when driven, to advance thread in a helical fashion over'its'periphery, the advancement of the threadv being eifected in at least two increments for each complete revolution of the reel. The eccentric axes and the relative disposition of the bar members of the three reel members enable one set of bar members to protrude in an advancing manner above the other sets to advance thread for each revolution of the reel. Such an advance ment of the thread is more progressively uniform than if it were moved but once during each complete rotation of the reel.

In a process where artificial thread or the like is continuously produced the herein described reels are advantageously positioned in a vertical series with their unobstructed ends facing outwardly toward the operator. Such a positioning of the reels enables the operator to readily perform his tasks inasmuch as the reels are accessible for threading up purposes, inspection, etc. Where a plurality of reels such as the reel herein described are positioned in a vertical series the thread or the like is usually dropped from a higher positioned reel to the reel below to be threaded thereon. The thread is dropped in a similar manner to all succeeding reels. Should, however, some difliculty appear on any one of a vertical series of reels during thread processing or during a threading-up operation normally an entire series of reels must be stopped from rotation in order to correct such a condition. Further, if such a reel continues to rotate it may not be desirable to have the thread advance over it while the fault is corrected. Should an unforeseen difficulty arise in a processing stage and it is not desirable to stop the rotation of theremaining reels ofa series the reel of this invention under such circumstances can 'be converted into a non-advancing reel or a cylinder to merely wind thread thereon in the form of a bundle. Such a reel is shown in a modification represented by Figure 5.

In the modification of Figure 5 the eccentric members 23 and 24 advantageously form a part of a sleeve 49 or are attached thereto. 'Ihesleeve: 4!] i splined or it may have a keyway 4| at one end. About the sleeve 4|! there is positioned a bushing bearing 42 and about the bushing 42 the reel supporting sleeve 43. Desirably sleeve 43 has a flared portion 44 which is adapted to be received by a retaining means (not shown) ina spinning apparatus to be firmly and rigidly held thereby.

The reel shaft 8 protrudes outside of, the sleeve 40 so as to permit the mounting of a driving gear 45 on such extension. The gear 45 is. held to the shaft l8 by a set screw 47. Gear teeth '43 are also provided on the hub portion of thegean 45. Gear teeth 50 are also provided on the end of the supporting sleeve 43. A splined .or keyed collar 5| adapted for lateral movement isimounte ed about the eccentric sleeve. 43. The collar 5| has an internal gear 53 which is adapted to mesh with the hub gear 48, and an internal gear 54 which is adapted to .mesh with the sleeve mounted gear 55 The collar also has an annular groove 56 into which extends a yoke 51. The yoke 51; forms one end of a bell-crank 60 which. rotates.- about a pivot 6| fixed to the flared reel sup-. port 44.

As shown, the position of the bell-crank '60 has effected a meshing of the internal gear 53 with 5 the hub gear 48. Any rotation of the driving gear 45 will as a result cause arotation of both the reel shaft l8 and the eccentric sleeve #0 since; the collar 5| is splined to the eccentric sleeve. When both the shaft and the eccentric sleeve are rotated at the same time there will be no ad vancement of thread over the reel periphery. The reel is thus reduced to a cylinder inasmuch as its function now is only to wind thread and. not to advance it over its periphery. The thread is wound in a circular bunch. Such-an accumu lation, of course, can be removed atany desired. moment by reconverting the reel to a thread 51f advancing'rel from that of a cylinder. Thisis easily done by shifting the collar away from the driving gea'r'45- and holding the eccentric sleeve 40 from rotation. I

When the collar 5| is shifted by the bell-crank 60 to effect a meshing relation between the internal gear 54. .of. the ,collar and the gear 50 on the supporting sleeve 43, the eccentric sleeve 40 is stopped from further rotationsince it becomes fixed to the reel support sleeve 43. ,The eccentric;

sleeve 40 is held rigidly through the splined collar andgears 50, 54. With the eccentric sleeve 40 being held the reel will rotate on fixed axis that are eccentric to each other, causing an advancement of the accumulated bunch of thread on thereel;

Further, there sometimes occurs a need for an over-running clutchwhich will allow 'a reel to rotate at a rate in excess of its driven rate-without disengaging the reel from its normal power source. There is provided by this invention a driving gear mounted on a unidirectional clutch which will permit a reel to'- be rotated; because of some additional external driving force, asv a greater draw-off rate of thread by a subsequent reel, exceeding the normal rate without disengaging the reel from its power source.

As shown in Figure 6 of the drawing the reel driving gear 45 is desirably mounted on a unidirectional clutch 65. The clutch may be formed by the driving gear 45 and a sleeve 66. The roller bearings, of course, are positioned between the sleeve and the gear. The sleeve is, of course. fixed to the shaft [8. Further a collar 61 is mounted on the end of the shaft l8 and abuts the driving gear 45. The collar 61 is held on the shaft l8 by a set screw 68. Any displacement therefore of the undirectional clutch B5 is prevented by the collar 61. Then by being mounted on a one-way clutch 65 the gear 45 will cause the rotation of the shaft only in a predetermined direction which direction is, of course, the one that is adapted for winding an advancing thread by the reel. Should such a reel temporarily exceed its driven rate because of some externally applied force increasing its rate of rotation in the same direction, it will, when such condition has passed, be again picked up by the clutch 65 to be driven at the normal predetermined rate.

Thus there is further provided by this invention a reel which can be reduced to perform the functions of a winding cylinder from those of an advancing reel and one which can be accelerated to higher speed without disengaging it from its power source.

Iclaim:

1. A thread or the like winding and advancing reel comprising a plurality of separate reel members having peripheries of a plurality of individual supported bar members; said bar members being positioned in an interdigitating relation forming a combined, generally circular reel periphery; individual axes of rotation for said reel members, said axes being offset and askew to each other; a shaft about which said reel members are mounted; means for supporting said reel from one end only, said means comprising a. sleeve through which extends the shaft supporting said reel; one of said reel members being mounted on one end of said shaft; a sleeve about said shaft for rotationally supporting at least one of said reel members; said member supporting sleeve being positioned within said reel supporting sleeve; a driving gear mounted on one end of said reel supporting shaft, said driving gear members l0, II and I2 at least one of said reel members;

having gear teeth on its hub endi a'splined sleeve.

positioned about the sleeve rotatably supporting end 'of said reel; supporting sleeve; and said splined sleeve having gear teeth in each end which are adapted to mesh with the teeth on said reel supporting sleeve or gear to thereby hold said reel member supporting sleeve fs'tationary; or to. hold said reel member supporting sleeve; to the driving gear to rotate withsaidreelshaft.

- 2. A thread or the like windingzandadvancing reel comprising at least three separate reel members each having a periphery of a plurality of bar members, the bar members of each reelmember'interdigitating and being coextensive with the others, and said reel members being mounted:

onoifset and askew axes arranged so that-at least two of said reel members are adapted to advance thread and the like during each revolu-- tion of the reel. a

--3. A thread or. the' like winding and advanc ing reel comprising at least three separate reel: members each having a periphery of aplurality of bar members, the bar members of each reel member interdigitating and being coextensive with the others, a shaft, one of said reel members being mounted concentrically about said shaft, eccentrics positioned about said shaft for rotatably mounting said remaining reel members, and the axes of said eccentrics being offset and being arranged with respect to each other and with respect to said shaft axes so that each of the eccentric mounted reel members is adapted to advance thread during each revolution of the reel.

4. A thread or the like winding and advancing reel comprising at least three separate reel mem-- bers each having a periphery of a plurality of bar members, the bar members of said reel members being in an interdigitating relation and coextensive with each other, said reel members being mounted for rotation about axes that are offset and askew to each other, and said axes being fixed against rotation so that each of two of said reel members is adapted to advance thread and the like in series relation during each revolution of the reel, the advance of the thread and the like occurring at substantially the same circumferential positions for each revolution.

5. A thread or the like winding and advancing reel comprising, two eccentrically disposed sets of bars occupying substantially the same space, each set of bars having thread supporting surfaces lying in a substantially cylindrical surface, a rotatable shaft, means for supporting the reel positioned about the shaft, means on one end for driving said shaft, one of said sets of bars being secured to said shaft for rotation therewith, an eccentric rotatably mounted on said shaft, the other said bars being rotatably mounted with respect to said eccentric, and means positioned at about the driving end of said shaft for connecting said eccentric to said reel supporting means for maintaining said eccentric stationary or for connecting said eccentric to said shaft for rotation therewith.

6. A thread or the like winding and advancmg reel comprising, a plurality of eccentrically disposed sets of bar members occupying substantially the same space, the bar members of each of said sets having their thread supporting surfaces lying in a substantially cylindrical surface, a rotatable shaft, one of said sets of bar members being substantially concentrically teeth on one.

teeth on said driving;

secured :to the shaztt for rotation therewith. eccentric rotatably mounted about 2.83111. shaft having e,v plurality of: bar member 'set support ingiportionshaving axesfchat-are ofiset and askew to said shaft, the :said :sets of .bar members being rotatably mmmted cn said eccentric, andlmeans pcsiticned about tneshaft :for maintaining said eccentric rstationary cr tor-connecting rs'aid eccentric to said ehagtlfor zetationrtherewithg *7; A threaten the like winding :and: advancing reel comprising a plurality of ceecentti'cafiy disposed sets ot bar members occupying substantially the same space, the :bar fmembere cf' each *9! said sets lhcimgitheir' thread tsuppnx ing surfaces lying in a eubstantially "cylindrical .surface, a rotatable sj'taftg. one or said .sets 01 bar members being sntg'stantially concentrically rsecured to seidlshagft fcr mutation therewith; an eccentric rotatalfli" mounted about said'l shatt having a plnralitg ct bar member :set supporting portions havif askew to each other; the said sets 01' Ibarvm'embets ibeing mctztalgty mounted :on said eccentric and mranged thereon in a manner so that each set its adapted. to advance thread in; the like.

once during each revolution :0! the-reel, and meanszpositicnedabcut the shaft vfor maintaining said eccentric stationary or'jcx connecting REFERENCES CITED The fl'mcwmg references are '0! 10 file of this patent:

Number Name :Date

.2', 1-3.6.;556- howett :Nov. 15, 1938 2,167,662 Lovett -1, 1939 2,167,681 Samerdyke ting. a, 1939 2,2-1-0L91i :Knebusehv 13; 19.40 2,230,493 .Jordaneh. 4, .1941. 2,249,710. 'Knebusch uly 15. 1941 2,289,390 'Iorrence' et a1. e -14, 1942 2,4os;o:n. Stanley um-m lmy 2; 194a 2,'4154,=1 15 Stanley c Feb 4, 1947 2,44%07-1 Stanley 29} 1948 2,446,525 CaStHan Ailg. 10, 1948 etecord" in the 

